Her research is in the fields of Animal Studies, modernist literature and Australian modernist art. Her work in Animal studies includes the following projects:

In 2008 Melissa and Dr Denise Russell held a national symposium on alternatives to using animals in medical and scientific research. They created the RAAT website (Replace Animals in Australian Testing) which is an information resource on the availability of alternatives and other related material.

A few years ago Melissa convened a series of seminars on animal matters at the University of Wollongong - guest presenters included Professor Helen Tiffin, Professor Una Chaudhuri from New York University and Ace Bourke of Christian the lion YouTube fame. Melissa is currently editing a collection of these papers for a forthcoming book: Captured: the animal within culture.